Rail clamp



1969 A. D. DE Moss ETAL 3,458,131

RAIL CLAMP Filed Oct. 5, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet l 2s 36 40 44 V2.8 38 32 30 l 5 F 2 ALAN 0. b e n il FRANK V. LEAVITT WMrWW ATTORNEYS July 29, 1969 A. D. DE MOSS EITAL 3,458,131

RAIL CLAMP 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed 001;. 5, 1967 FIG 4 INVENTORS ALAN D. DeMOSS FRANK V. LEAVITT TTORNEYS FIG 5 United States Patent 3,458,131 RAIL CLAMP Alan D. De Moss, 608 Crescent Ave., San Mateo, Calif. 94402, and Frank V. Leavitt, 225 W. Eaton Ave., Apt. 29, Tracy, Calif. 95376 Filed Oct. 5, 1967, Ser. No. 673,160 Int. Cl. E01b 11/00, 9/46, 9/22 US. Cl. 238263 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A rail clamp having a pair of bars disposed on either side of the rail, a clamping member passing under the rail, and means on each end of the clamping member for applying force to each side of the rail through the bars.

Background of the invention This invention relates to clamps, and, more particularly, to a clamp which is particularly adapted to align and hold in place two opposed ends of rail.

It is a common practice in the railroad industry to lay lengths of rail varying from 1440 to 1520 feet in line and weld their ends in the field to form a continuous length of rail. While the butted ends of rail are being prepared for welding, it may be necessary to pass a train over the joint, and some means of temporarily strengthening such a joint are necessary when it is supporting such a great load. In order to effect a proper weld between a pair of butted ends, it has been found necessary to have no bolt holes in the rail ends, i.e., to have the rail ends continuous. This eliminates the possibility of temporarily bolting braces along each side of the rail to overlap the joint.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a rail clamp which is capable of temporarily strengthening a joint formed by two rail ends sufiiciently to support a train passing thereover, and which effectively clamps on rail ends which are continuous, having no holes therein.

Summary of the invention Broadly stated, the rail clamp comprises a first bar disposed along one side of the rail, a second bar disposed along the other side of the rail, and a clamping member passing under the rail and having one end on either side thereof. Means are provided on one end of the clamping member for applying force to the rail through the first bar, and means are provided on the other end of the clamping member to concurrently apply an equal force to the rail through the second bar.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent in view of the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.

Brief description of the drawings 4 is a view taken along the line 4--4 of FIG. 2: 5 is a view taken along the line 55 of FIG. 2.

Description of the preferred embodiment In FIG. 1 is shown a rail clamp 10, which acts to clamp on a pair of rails 12, 14 which have been laid in line with their ends 16, 18 abutting to form a line of rail 20. A first bar 22 runs along one side of the rail 20 and overlaps the joint formed by ends 16, 18. A second bar 24 runs along the other side of the rail 20 and also overlaps the joint formed by ends 16, 18. The shapes of these bars 22, 24 are best shown in FIG. 2. Passing under the rail 20 and having ends 26, 28 on either side thereof is a clamping member 30. This clamping member 30 is made up of a pair of spaced plates 32, 34 of identical configuration.

Disposed between the base 36 of the rail 20' and the clamping member 30 is a plate 38 which has ends 40, 42 extending on either side of the rail 20. The plate 38 fits against the clamping member 30 between perpendicular body portions 44, 46 formed on the ends 26, 28 thereof respectively, and is welded thereto.

As best shown in FIG. 4, a pair of T-shaped apertures 48, 50 are formed in the plate 38 adjacent the ends 40, 42 respectively thereof. A first block 52 has a portion 54 which extends into the aperture 48. The first block 52 is thus slidable along the plate 38 to the extent that the aperture 48 will allow. A second block 56 has a portion 58 which extends into the aperture 50. Similar to the first block 52, the second block 56 is slidable along the plate 38 to the extent that the aperture 50 will allow.

A bolt 60 is threadedly connected to a member 62 welded to the end 26 of the clamping member 30 between the spaced plate 32, 34 thereof. It will be seen that as the bolt 60 is rotated, it is adapted to urge the first block 52 into engagement with the first bar 22.

In the operation of the device, the parts described above are disposed in their proper positions, with the clamping member 30 disposed between the ties of a track, and the bolt 60 is tightened, urging the first block 52 into engagement with the first bar 22. The first bar 22 in turn is urged against the rail 20. Upon continuation of tightening of the bolt 62, the clamping member 30 is drawn up, and moves under the rail 20 to the right (FIG. 2). The base 64 of T-shaped aperture 50 is brought into engagement with the second block 56 and the slidable movement of the second block 56 toward the end 42 of plate 38 is limited. As the clamping member 30 is further drawn to the right by bolt 62, the second block 56 applies force to the second bar 24, with the first block 52 applying a force to the first bar 22. These forces are applied to the rail 20 through bars 22 and 24. The forces on each side of the rail 20 are, of course, concurrent and are equal in magnitude.

As best seen in FIG. 2, the surface of each bar 22, 24 adjacent the rail 20 is arcuately shaped so that it only applies force to the rail immediately below the head 66 of the rail 20 and to the base 36. Furthermore, the bars 22, 24, as the bolt 62 is tightened, wedge in between the base 36 and head 66. This insures that the bars 22, 24 are held solidly in position relative to the rail 20 and apply force in most efiicient manner.

It will be noted that the extended portions 54, 58 of each block 52, 56 are T-shaped in configuration (FIG. 5). This serves to hold the blocks 52, 56 from pulling out of the plate 38 when great force is applied thereto. The blocks 52, 56 are easily removable from the plate 38 when no force is applied because of the T-shape of apertures 48 .and 50. The rail clamp 10 can thus be easily assembled and disassembled.

Two or more clamps 10 may be applied to a section of rail if additional strengthening of a joint is desired. A clamp 10 may be applied to a rail when there is any separation or flaw thereon, and is not limited to use on rails the ends of which abut to be welded.

Furthermore, it has been found that bars 22, 24 of substantial length distribute the force over a relatively large part of the rail and create suflicient friction between the bars and the rail to prevent the abutted ends of rail from pulling apart.

It will be seen that applicants have provided a rail clamp which can be used to temporarily strengthen a joint formed by two rail ends sufficiently to support a train passing thereover. Furthermore, the device is easily applied and removed, and is eifective on rail ends which have no holes in them. Obviously, the invention can be carried out in many diflerent ways, of which the embodiment shown and described is merely illustrative. Therefore, we do not wish to be limited to the embodiment shown and described, but only by the following claims.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. A rail clamp comprising:

(a) a first bar disposed along one side of the rail;

(b) a second bar disposed along the other side of the rail;

() a clamping member passing under the rail and having an end on either side thereof;

(d) a plate disposed between the base of the rail and the clamping member and having an end on either side of the rail, the plate being limited by the clamping member in movement toward either end thereof;

(e) a first block slidable along the plate into engagement with the first bar;

(f) a bolt threadedly connected to the clamping member and adapted to urge the block into engagement with the first bar and apply force therethrough t0 the rail;

(g) a second block slidable along the plate on the other side thereof, and having a portion which extends iuto an aperture in the plate to limit the amount of such relative sliding movement, whereby the second block is adapted to apply force to the rail through the second bar.

2. A rail clamp according to claim 1 wherein each bar is arcuately shaped to wedge it between the base of the rail and the head of the rail to apply force to the rail immediately below the head of the rail and to the base thereof only.

3. A rail clamp comprising:

(a) a first bar disposed along one side of the rail;

(b) a second bar disposed along the other side of the rail;

Cir

(c) a clamping member passing under the rail and having an end on either side thereof;

(d) a plate disposed between the base of the rail and clamping member and having an end on either side of the rail, the plate being limited by the clamping member in movement toward either end thereof;

(e) a first block disposed on one side of the rail and slidable along the plate and having an extended portion of T-shaped configuration which extends into and through an aperture in the plate to the underside thereof, the first block being slidable into engagement with the first bar;

(f) a bolt threadedly connected to the clamping member for urging the first block into engagement with the first bar and applying force therethrough to the rail; and

(g) a second block slidable along the plate on the other side of the rail, and having an extended portion of T-shaped configuration which extends into and through an aperture in the plate to the underside thereof to limit the amount of such relative sliding movement, whereby the second block is adapted to apply force to the rail through the second bar.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 260,446 7/1882 Benson 238-263 1,070,919 8/1913 Rosson 238263 1,194,574- 8/1916 Tanimine 23 8-263 2,610,799 9/1952 Titus 238-208 3,295,761 1/1967 Marcin 238292 FOREIGN PATENTS 840,256 5/ 1952 Germany.

ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner RICHARD A. BERTSCH, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 238-282 

